Day: September 9, 2021

Children exposed to alcohol in womb need dedicated support

Thousands of children and young people living with a brain condition caused by exposure to alcohol while in the womb are in desperate need of dedicated and joined up support.

The charity Adoption UK is calling for each nation of the UK to provide a government funded Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in every nation of the UK.

Caused by the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, FASD is the most known cause of neurodevelopmental disability and birth defects in the UK – but it often goes unrecognised. 

FASD could affect up to 5% of the population but it is estimated a third* of adopted children have the condition. Alcohol misuse is one of the main reasons children are taken into care but many adopted children with FASD will have come from families where there was drinking during pregnancy, but not to access, and where alcohol was not the main reason for them entering care.

Adoption UK’s 2020 Adoption Barometer report revealed one-in-four adopted children are either diagnosed with, or suspected to have, FASD. More than half of families polled had waited two years or longer for a diagnosis, and more than three-quarters felt healthcare professionals lacked basic knowledge about the condition, even though FASD is more common than autism.

Scotland leads the way in the UK, in terms of diagnosis, support, and awareness of FASD. The creation of the FASD Hub Scotland in 2019, funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Adoption UK, quickly established itself as a go-to resource for parents and carers seeking to gain support, information, signposting, training, and to navigate their way through the diagnosis process.

The SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) Guidelines (2019) means children and young people in Scotland now have a route to diagnosis. The guidelines have since been adopted in England where they are awaiting release as the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) quality standards for FASD.

Ruth Cliff has been unable to get an FASD assessment for her son, who she adopted 16 years ago, despite knowing his birth mother used alcohol throughout her pregnancy.

Ruth, who lives in England, said: “We were referred to a paediatrician who told me they didn’t have the expertise to assess for FASD and there was no one in our area who could do it either. I asked my local authority to fund an assessment via the Adoption Support Fund, but this was turned down.

“Finding the right support for my son has completely taken over my life, so to have a specialist one-stop-shop like the hub in Scotland, where people truly understand FASD, would be life-changing.”

Adoption UK is marking International FASD Awareness Day, by calling on Stormont, the Welsh Government and Westminster to replicate the success of the FASD Hub Scotland in each nation. 

The charity is also calling on the Scottish Government to commit to the long-term funding of the FASD Hub Scotland.

Sue Armstrong Brown, Adoption UK’s CEO, said: “Great strides have been made in Scotland around FASD but we’ve still a long way to go to ensure individuals with FASD and their families receive the support they so urgently need. Every child entering the care system must be screened for FASD.”

Adoption UK will be launching an animated film today, made in collaboration with parents, carers and young people, some of whom have FASD. Conor, aged 13, who has FASD, provided the film’s voiceover. 

Earlier this month, FASD Hub Scotland launched the first Parent/Carer FASD diagnosis experience survey. 

Adoption UK is also hosting FASD webinars throughout September. 

Find out more here.

Children’s Commissioners urge UK Government to stop violating children’s rights to an adequate standard of living

The Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have repeated their calls to the UK Government to end its two-child limit on Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit warning that the policy continues to violate children’s human rights. 

All three have also called on the UK Government to abandon the scrapping of the £20 uplift, which would compound the poverty issues facing children across the nations, and urge the prioritisation of children’s rights in any further changes to Universal Credit.  

Giving evidence yesterday  (Wednesday, September 8) to the Public Services Committee at the House of Lords, the Commissioners again pointed out that the two-child limit policy – which disallows benefits payments to third and subsequent children born after April 2017 in most circumstances – is a discriminatory policy contrary to the government’s obligations under the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.  

Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland said: “We remain deeply concerned that the two-child policy and the scrapping of the £20 uplift breaches childen’s rights to an adequate standard of living and is contributing to a rising gap in poverty levels between families with three or more children and smaller households.  

“The two-child limit in particular has a disproportionate impact on social groups where larger families are more common, such as some minority faith and ethnic groups and in Northern Ireland where families are larger than the rest of the UK.”  

The Commissioners – Bruce Adamson for Scotland, Sally Holland for Wales, and Koulla Yiasouma for Northern Ireland – remain concerned that UK benefit rules prevent devolved governments from fully tackling child poverty.   

Speaking after the Committee session, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson said: “The Scottish Government had an opportunity yesterday within the Programme for Government to do all that it can to mitigate against the worse of the UK Government’s benefit rules.

“While new commitments on housing, food and the new Whole Family Wellbeing Fund are welcome, not increasing the Scottish Child Payment with immediate effect was hugely concerning as children need this money now.

“Poverty is a human rights issue and while UK benefit rules continue to play a significant part in keeping families in poverty, the Scottish Government plays an important role in ensuring children’s rights are met. The effects of the pandemic – which are still becoming clear – have only served to make a dire situation worse for those in poverty or only just getting by. Both governments must do more.”

Commissioner Sally Holland said: “Children are hungry and living in sub-standard housing in the UK in 2021 and that is a disgrace. Poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life, from their health – both physical and mental – to their education. How can a child concentrate properly at school and learn if they are hungry? 

“The State has an obligation to children and every child has the right to an adequate standard of living. Families have a right to social security. These polices are a clear breach of children’s human rights.”  

  In May, the Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland wrote an open letter to the Right Honourable Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, calling for an end to the two-child limit of Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit and for the £20 uplift in universal credit amounts to be maintained.